Thursday, October 8, 2009

Here is an article from Defense News talking about new BAE Systems armor kits for the Humvee and how they reduce weight by 500 lbs. (Which actually doesn't seem like that much). What I found most interesting in the article, is that they redesigned the doors which:

Most all military vehicle doors open like conventional automobiles, in parallel. However, it makes perfect sense to reverse this. The doors, up armored with composites, act as shields and protect from the front and rear.

I am willing to bet money this will save more then one life, and it is often the simple ideas which can have a great impact. Perhaps in other military and composite applications designers and engineers should take a step back, and question why.